Last month the European Union (EU) Council of Transport Ministers and the European Parliament finally agreed on new common flight time limitations (FTL) for commercial operations. But the new standards have provoked an angry response from pilot unions for being unsafe and for allowing too much latitude for individual EU member states to continue imposing their own limits.
Aviation in the United Kingdom
January 29, 2007 - 7:00am
FlightSafety International has received Part 147 certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for its aircraft maintenance technician training programs. FlightSafety’s technician training resources cover the entire business aviation spectrum as well as regional airline operations and a number of military aircraft types.
January 26, 2007 - 11:02am
The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) released its final report on the 2002 crash of a Swearingen SA227-AC Metroliner III at Aberdeen Airport, Scotland. The accident followed failure of the right engine shortly after takeoff.
December 18, 2006 - 4:51am
After a long period of strained relations between the UK general aviation community and the country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the two groups are working together constructively to push for the implementation of recommendations from the strategic and regulatory reviews that they jointly concluded in June.
December 15, 2006 - 7:59am
Britain’s Department for Transport (DfT) has decided not to act unilaterally to impose new restrictions on UK-based aircraft that are registered overseas. In October 2005, the DfT completed a consultation on possible changes to the rules governing foreign-registered aircraft in the UK. The new rules would have limited the amount of time foreign-registered aircraft can be based in the UK to 90 days in any 12-month period.
December 15, 2006 - 5:20am
The categorical rejection of the new European Union constitution by French and Dutch voters has rocked the EU to its core, casting doubt on the sustainability of governmental structures for the expanding community. But on the banks of the Rhine in the German city of Cologne, one new European institution is already showing that it can make a meaningful difference in the way the air transport industry is governed.
December 13, 2006 - 11:45am
Proponents of commercial operations with single-engine aircraft in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) have been frustrated once again by seemingly interminable delays in prospective European approval for such flights. The European Joint Aviation Authorities had been scheduled to discuss a formal proposal last week, but that meeting has now been postponed until late in July.
December 11, 2006 - 4:21am
In the June 2005 issue of AIN I wrote about a fully loaded British Airways 747 that was taking off from Los Angeles bound for London when one of its engines emitted a large fireball just after liftoff. I commented on the wisdom (or lack of wisdom) of proceeding on a 16-hour flight with one engine out and uncertainty about the extent of damage to the engine or the airframe.
November 29, 2006 - 9:28am
Harrods Aviation has been honored as best handling agent in the Excellence Awards voted for by members of the Baltic Air Charter Association (BACA). The UK business aviation services group has FBOs at London’s Stansted and Luton airports. BACA members also selected air taxi firm London Executive Aviation as best general aviation operator and Dubai International Airport as the best airport.
November 13, 2006 - 10:00am
The UK Department for Transport expects to publish next month the long-awaited findings of its proposal to set restrictions for foreign-registered aircraft that are based in the UK. The comment period ended last October. The proposal would limit the amount of time foreign-registered aircraft can be based in the UK to 90 days in any 12-month period.
